After terror bombings in 1972, father and son become “wild men”

VietNamNet Bridge – Panic of the tragic death of his mother and two sons when the U.S. bombs hit his house, a soldier held his one-year-old son and ran into the jungle. He lived in the forest for 40 years until August 7.

Quang Ngai: Wild men rescued

Overcoming many steep hills, passing many streams over four hours, the mission of the mountainous district of Tay Tra (Quang Ngai province) who were assigned to “rescue” two forest men – Mr. Ho Van Thanh, 81, and his son – Ho Van Loan (not Lang), 41, approached the thatch on an ancient tree on the peak of APon mountain.

Looking from a distance, the hut looks like a large bird nest on an old tree, which is supported by dozens of bamboo trees. The thatch is roofed with dried banana leaves, rattan and sop leaves. Several meters from the thatch is a stream. Stream water comes to the thatch by a system of bamboo pipes.

To enter the hut, people had to climb a ladder made of forest trees and rattan ropes. The “house” is about 2m2 and it is smoky ash. Apart from a small space for cooking, the hut is only enough for Thanh and his son to sleep.

Mr. Ho Van Tri, Thanh’s son, said that according to his relatives, in 1972 his father – a soldier – was stationed near his home. One day, Thanh heard the bombing so he quickly ran home. But his home was rubbles; mother and his two older sons died.

“Facing the great loss, my father panicked. He held my brother – Loan – over one year old at that time to run into the forest. At that time I was an infant. Until the age of 12 I followed my uncle to seek my father and my brother in the forest. They lived in the hut on a tree,” said Tri.

After that meeting, twice a year Tri carried salt, kerosene and several knives to the forest for his father, even though until now his father and brother do not realize him as their siblings. Every time entering the forest, Tri slept along streams. He did not dare to sleep in the hut with his father and brother because of panic.

According to Tri, the villagers repeatedly went to the forest to advise his father and brother to go home, but whenever they saw strangers, they ran very fast into the jungle to hide.

To survive in the wilderness, the two men lived on the tree to avoid predators. They also tried to keep the fire and went to neighboring upland fields to seek rice, corn, sesame, sugarcane and tobacco seedlings to plant around their hut. Therefore, the mission was very surprised when standing in front of a field of nearly one hectare covered by rice, corn, sesame, sugarcane and tobacco of Thanh and his son. Below the hut, betel trees are verdant.

Mr. Ho Minh Lam, Thanh’s nephew, said the villagers sometimes brought clothes, pots, axes and knives for Thanh but he kept these things in his hut, not using them. Every day the father and son wore only a loincloth braided by bark and made homemade tools for pounding rice and cassava into flour. They also created a lot of bayonets, broadswords, arrows, traps, axes … to hunt wild animals.

According to Lam, to overcome the cold winter, Thanh and his son lit fire in the hut and smoke in the hut warmed the body. Checking the hut, the villagers found a variety of wild meat, including dried mouse meat and tens of large bamboo tubes filled with reserve food such as rice, sesame and chili. They also kept teeth and gall of many species of animals to use as medicines and jewelry.

Since Thanh and his son returned home, hundreds of people from the surrounding region flocked to the village to share the happiness with the family.

Thanh’s health is depleted so doctors of Tay Tra District Hospital are working very hard to save him. At the Hospital, Thanh had a haggard face. He was completely silent. Doctors use two bandage wires to tie his hands to the bed to prevent him from escaping. Doctors said that Thanh only suffers from body depression.

Being taken to the medical center, Loan just said a few words like inquiring about the situation of his father. Loan’s eyes were full of fear when he saw his father lying on the bed, with water transfusion line on his hand. The 41-year-old man motioned for others to bring his father home. After being consoled by relatives, he agreed to go home but he kept sitting in a corner to smoke, with sad eyes.

Mr. Hoang Anh Ngoc, Chairman of Tay Tra mountainous district, said that the local authorities would help Thanh and his son quickly integrate into the communities through building a house for him and granting him with preferential policies for a war invalid.

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